Busy Day

Today has been a busy day. I wanted to show you some of the new activities we have available. Last year, we ate breakfast 8 at a time and as parents came in one table was already set up with learning stations . They got to get a glimpse at what we do. This year, all the kids seem to want to eat as soon as they come in, so we are all eating as a group and after the tables have been cleaned and sanitized , I set out out table learning centers

These are little scrapbook hole punches . They are in the shape of leaves. Great fine motor practice. The next activity is a patterning activity. These little fall shapes are made of plastic. It feels more like a toy than a learning activity. This is why we don't NEED worksheets. And these.. we can do again and again !

This is a leaf color matching game I made. We also do a lot of lacing !

These are silk leaves. There are a number of things you can do with these leaves. Count them. Sort them by color and size. You can create patterns with them. The possibilities are endless.

More fun with watercolors today.

I put out two more new toys today. A dollhouse and a garage. The kids are loving it !

These are cool community helper cards. Today , I just set them on the table. Noah progressed to laying them all over the table and explained that he was making a matching game. GREAT IDEA! You can use these a lot of ways, they are made to match the worker with his tools. One suggestion I have with any matching game is to take about half the packaged stack out. Trying to lay out 50 cards and find matches is too frustrating for little guys. Try starting with 5 matches and then work your way up to 10.

This was our small group activity today. The numbered leaves were all mixed up . First we put them in order . After that we discussed HOW to count . Learning one to one correlation is difficult for preschoolers. When you hear someone say - " My child can count to 100" ask them if they can count out that many objects. Today we focused on using one pointer finger and touching one leaf at a time and counting slowly. The 4 year olds did fairly well. The three year olds tended to go faster as they got higher and their finger would skip a leaf or two. We will work on this process many times over the year.

This was my favorite water color of the day. I think Autum did a great job!

In circle time today we talked about our field trip last night. It was interesting to hear the things the kids said they "saw". Mostly they remember the wheel chairs.

We started the nursery rhyme " Peter , Peter Pumkin Eater today ." We talked about things like " Can we REALLY live INSIDE a pumpkin ?" and " I wonder why he out his wife in there?"

We also enjoyed the book " Who Loves Fall ."

Busy busy day.

I think our evening field trip is Tuesday the 5th at 6 pm at the fire station on Cheri Whitlock. I will call today to make sure I didnt get it all confused. We will not have an evening field trip every week, this month it just happened that way. These are great opportunities to get to know the other parents.

Parent Teacher conferences are next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a sign up sheet on the back table .

Have a great weekend everyone. Here are some pictures from last night at the nursing home and our FRIDAY FLICK!

Randy sometimes sits on the steps and pretends with the kids that they are driving different vehicles - like buses or race cars. I caught the kids doing it all on their own ! And.. you will have to turn your computer sideways or .... your head. :) Evidently , I taped it with the camera sideways. :)